A suspicious person phone call has resulted in Turner Valley RCMP recovering a substantial amount of stolen property near Millarville.

On December 13, 2017 police responded to a call where a male was acting suspicious; entering onto rural properties and looking into windows.

Officers responded and located the suspect not far from the reported location. Upon seeing police, the man fled on foot but was apprehended a short time later.

When arrested, the man was found to be in possession of an ignition key for a GMC vehicle. The vehicle that the key belonged to was located on a nearby property and determined to be stolen. Further investigation revealed that the man had broken into a shed and stole a battery charger from another area property.

In total, four stolen trucks, a stolen camper, snowmobile, tandem dump trailer and a flatbed utility trailer all were recovered by the RCMP during the investigation.

At the time of his arrest, the suspect was on a recent release from custody, and was scheduled to begin court imposed intermittent jail sentencing on December 19th for similar offences.

44-year-old Michael Andrew Zielinski has been charged with Breaking and Entering as well as possession of stolen property. He has been remanded into custody and is scheduled to make his next court appearance on January 5 in Turner Valley Provincial court.

“This case was a great example of citizens and police working together,” says Staff Sgt. Dwayne Helgeson, Turner Valley RCMP detachment commander. “By being alert and reporting suspicious activity, the community helped us to not only stop this person from committing more crimes, but also to recover stolen property.”

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